Bottom seam squeezer for paper cups



Nov. 10, 1959 Filed Jan. 2, 1957 W. L. MILLER BOTTOM SEAM SQUEEZEB FORPAPER CUPS W c ail Mam,

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR ATTORNEYS Nov. 10, 1959 w. 1.. MILLER 2,911,890

BOTTOM SEAM SQUEEZER FOR PAPER CUPS Filed Jan. 2, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR WLJ/z'ZZer United States Patent BOTTOM SEAM SQUEEZER FOR PAPERCUPS William L. Miller, Kensington, Conn., assignor to Continental CanCompany, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationJanuary 2, 1957, Serial No. 632,115

11 Claims. (Cl. 93-55.1)

In seaming the bottoms of paper cups to the side walls, it is customaryto form the seam by adhesively securing a flange of the cup bottom in adeep channel formation of the side wall. It is necessary to radiallysqueeze the seam to insure that the elements thereof be tightly securedagainst each other. This squeezing operation is performed by rolling theseam with pressure and in so doing either a pressure roller travelsseveral times around the seam, or the cup is rotated while the roller isrelatively stationary, or both rotating operations are simultaneouslyperformed in opposite directions. Therefore, an expensive, complicatedand hard to time mechanism is required and it is a rather diflicultmatter to adapt it for cups of different sizes. Moreover, the area ofcontact of the pressure roller with the seam is very restricted asthisroller is necessarily of very small diameter compared with the cupdiameter. Consequently, the roller has a tendency to somewhat deform'theseam and cause relative creeping of the seam elements with danger ofproducing a defective seam.

Various endeavors have been made to overcome such dilflculties as thoseabove enumerated but insofar as I am informed they have not metrequirements and seam squeezing is therefore still accomplished by meansof a pressure roller.

Not only the present invention but some of its predecessors accept thedesirability of radially squeezing the seam by means of an expansiblesleeve, one end of which is surrounded by the seam. The presentinvention, however, aims to provide a new and improved construction andarrangement embodying such a sleeve but free from all shortcomings ofgenerally similar prior mechanisms.

In carrying out the above end, one object is to provide a novelexpansible sleeve having a mounting flange at its upper end, said sleevebeing provided, from the region of said mounting flange to the lower endof the sleeve, with a multiplicity of spring fingers, said springfingers having terminal portions to exert simultaneous and equal radialpressure on the seam when the sleeve is expanded.

A further object is to provide a novel assembly in which the flangedexpansible sleeve is mounted in a novel manner within a hollow head atthe seam-squeezing station of a paper cup fabricating machine, said headhaving a lower end wall'formed with a circular opening to snugly receivethe bottom-carrying end of an inverted cup, said sleeve extending intosaid opening to radially press the bottom seam against the wall of saidopening when the sleeve is expanded.

Another object is to make novel provision in the assembly to facilitatequick and easy substitution of a sleeve of different diameter and a headend 'wall having an opening of correspondingly different diameter, toadapt the mechanism for cups of a different size.

Yet another object is to form the aforesaid end wall of a top ring and abottom ring secured together, said top ring having a smallerinternaldiameter than said 2,911,890 Patented Nov. 10, 1959 opening witha shoulder to abut the bight of the bottom seam.

bottom ring to provide the wall of the cup-receiving A further object isto embody in the assembly a restraining ring which embraces theexpansible sleeve between its ends and aids in holding the lower ends ofthe spring fingers in concentric relation with the opening in the lowerend wall of the head.

A still further object is to make novel provision per mitting quick andeasy substitution of a restraining ring of diiferent internal diameterwhen a sleeve of difierent diameter is installed.

Still another object is to provide a novel one-piece construction forthe expansible sleeve, in which the lower ends of the spring fingershave radially widened terminal portions shaped at the outer periphery ofthe sleeve for contact with the bottom seam and shaped at theinnerperiphery of the sleeve for coaction with a reciprocablesleeve-expander.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claims and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing is a vertical longitudinal sectionthrough the assembly showing the relation of elements when a seam isbeing squeezed.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly inelevation, showing the elements in the relation which exists betweensuccessive seam-squeezing operations.

Figure 3 is a lower end view of the expansible sleeve, partly brokenaway and in section.

The preferred construction has been shown in the drawings and will berather specifically described but attention is invited to thepossibility of making variations within the scope of the invention.

A vertically disposed cylindrical head 5 is shown, said head beingadapted at 6 for mounting on a carriage (not shown) at the bottom seamsqueezing station of a paper cup fabricating machine. This head isprovided with a lower end wall 7 secured thereto, for downward removal,by screws 8. Abovethis lower end wall, the side wall 9 is provided withan internal downwardly facing shoulder The end wall 7 is formed with acentral circular open ing 11 to snugly receive the bottom-carrying endof an inverted paper cup C preparatory to radial squeezing of the seam Swhich unites the cup bottom B with the side wall W.

The end wall 7 is formed from an upper relatively thin ring 12 and alower and thicker ring 13, said rings being secured in contact with eachother by the screws 8. The upper ring 12 is of less internal diameterthan the lower ring 13, to project beyond the latter and form a shoulder14 to abut the bight b of the seam S. Both rings .12 and 13 arecountersunk snugly yet removably in the lower end of the side wall 9, asseen at 15.

Circular guiding means 1'6 for a sleeve-expanding plunger 17 is providedwithin the head 5 and includes a ring 18 under and abutting the shoulder10. Under this ring 18 and disposed concentrically within the head 5, isthe expansible sleeve 19, the upper end of said sleeve being providedwith a continuous, lateral mounting flange 20. This flange 20 extends tothe side wall 9 and contacts with the lower side of the ring 18. Aflangeclampinig sleeve '21 lies removably against the inner periphery ofthe wall 9 and "extends from the end wall 7 to the mounting flange 20.Thus, the elements 7, 8

and 21 coact in tightly clamping the mounting flange 3 20 of theexpansible sleeve 19 against the abutment means formed by the shoulder10 and ling 18.

The lower end of the sleeve 19 extends into the opening 11 to exertradial pressure on the seam S when the sleeve is expanded by descent ofthe plunger 17, and said sleeve is divided, below the mounting flange2:), by narrow circumferentially spaced longitudinal slits 22 into amultiplicity of spring fingers 23. These fingers have rigid verticallyelongated and radially widened lower terminal portions 24 and saidfingers are gradually thinned to said terminal portions 24. Theseterminal portions have outer surfaces 25 at the outer periphery of thesleeve and disposed in downwardly flared relation for contact with theinner peripheral side of the seam S. The terminal portions 24 also haveinner surfaces 26 at the inner periphery of the sleeve and disposed inupwardly flared relation for contact with a downwardly tapered sleeveexpander 27. This expander is removably secured by a screw 28 to thelower end of the plunger 17.

A restraining ring 29 embraces the sleeve 19 between the ends of thespring fingers 25 and aids in normally holding the terminal portions 24of said fingers in uniformly spaced concentric relation (Figure 2) withthe wall of the opening 11 in readiness for engagement with anapproaching cup. The restraining ring 29 extends outwardly to the sleeve21 and is supported by another sleeve 30 which lies against said sleeve21 and rests on the lower end wall 7 of the head 5.

Each cup may well be turrent-fed into position under the head and thelatter may be cam-lowered to seat the cup end in the opening 11 and theseam S between the terminal portions 24 of the fingers 23 and the wallof the opening 11, whereupon lowering of the plunger 17 will outwardlyspring said fingers 23 and cause said terminal portions 24 to exertuniform radial pressure against the seam S to tightly squeeze this seamand insure fluid tight adhesion therein. While the surfaces 25 pressonly against circumferentially spaced areas of the seam, the spacingbetween said areas is so slight that the seam material between saidareas cannot seriously bulge inwardly and cause any looseness. To insureagainst such bulging, the slits 22 are only about .030" wide, and thewidening of these slits upon plunger descent is very slight. There arepreferably sixteen of these slits and consequently sixteen of the springfingers 23. The slits are of course uniformly spaced, giving uniformcircumferential width to the spring fingers.

In manufacture, the sleeve 19 and its mounting flange 20 are turned tothe desired shape, the slits 22 are then cut by sawing, and the unit isthen heat treated to appropriately temper the fingers 23. The sleeve ispreferably downwardly tapered.

When the assembly is to be changed for handling cups of a differentdiameter, this can be quickly and easily accomplished. Removal of thescrews 8, permits withdrawal of the lower end rings 12 and 13, thesleeves 21 and 30, the expansible sleeve 19 and the restraining ring 29.Also, removal of the screw 28 allows removal of the expander 27. Thenother corresponding elements, sized according to the diameter of thecups to be handled, can be installed with equal speed and ease. The samesleeves 21 and 30 may of course be employed during this installation.

Any appropriate means may be employed to operatd the plunger 17. In thepresent disclosure a shaft 31 is swivelled at 32 to the plunger 17, saidshaft being mounted at 33 for oscillation and sliding. This shaft has acam 34 cooperable with a stationary roller 35, to cause lowering of theplunger 17 (Figure 1) when the shaft is turned in one direction andraising of said plunger (Figure 2) when said shaft is turned in theother direction. A suitable cam arrangement (not shown) may well beemployed for turning the shaft 31.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel and advantageousconstruction has been disclosed for attaining the desired ends butattention is again invited to the possibility of makingvariations'within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head having a lower end wallformed with a central circular opening to receive the bottom-carryingend of an inverted cup, an expansible sleeve disposed concentricallywithin said head and having a continuous lateral mounting flange at itsupper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange in said head andso positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends into said openingin spaced relation with the wall of this opening, a sleeve expanderwithin the lower end of said sleeve, said sleeve expander and sleevehaving coacting surfaces for expanding said expansible sleeve when saidsleeve expander is forced downwardly, and an operating member extendingdownwardly within said sleeve and connected to said sleeve expander,said lower end wall being removably secured to said head: said securingmeans for said mounting flange comprising (1) said removably sesured endwall, (2) a flange-clamping sleeve in said head and extending from saidend wall to said mounting flange, and (3) abutment means in said headand holding said mounting flange against upward movement in said head,said mounting flange being tightly clamped between said abutment meansand the upper end of said flange clamping sleeve.

2. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head having a lower end wallformed with a central circular opening to receive the bottom-carryingend of an inverted cup, an expansible sleeve disposed concentricallywithin said head and having a continuous lateral mounting flange at itsupper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange in said head andso positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends into said openingin spaced relation with the wall of this opening, a sleeve expanderwithin the lower end of said sleeve, said sleeve expander and sleevehaving coacting surfaces for expanding said expansible sleeve when saidsleeve expander is forced downwardly, and an operating member extendingdownwardly within said sleeve and connected to said sleeve expander,said lower end wall being removably secured to said head, said headhaving a downwardly facing internal shoulder over said mounting flange,guiding means for said operating member including a ring snuglyinterposed between said shoulder and said mounting flange, and aflange-clamping sleeve extending from said mounting flange to saidremovably secured lower end wall: said shoulder, ring, flange-clampingsleeve and removably secured lower end wall constituting said securingmeans for said mounting flange.

3. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head having a lower end wallformed with a central circular opening to receive the bottom-carryingend of an inverted cup, an expansible sleeve disposed concentricallywithin said head and having a continuous lateral mounting flange at itsupper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange in said head andso positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends into said openingin spaced relation with the wall of this opening, a sleeve expanderwithin the lower end of said sleeve, said sleeve expander and sleevehaving coacting surfaces for expanding said expansible sleeve when saidsleeve expander is forced downwardly, and an operating member extendingdownwardly within said sleeve and connected to said sleeve expander,together with a rigid non-yielding restraining ring mounted in said headin fixed concentric relation with the wall of said opening and embracingand contacting said sleeve between the ends of the latter to aid inmaintaining the lower end of said sleeve in concentric relation with towall of said opening.

4. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head having a lower end wallformed with a central circular opening to receive the bottom-carryingend of an inverted cup, an expansible sleeve disposed concentricallywithin said head and having a continuous lateral mounting flange at itsupper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange in said head andso positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends into said openingin spaced relation with the wall of this opening, a sleeve expanderwithin the lower end of said sleeve, said sleeve expander and sleevehaving coacting surfaces for expanding said expansible sleeve when saidsleeve expander is forced downwardly, and an operating member extendingdownwardly Within said sleeve and connected to said sleeve expander,said lower end wall comprising an upper ring and a lower ring, saidupper ring being of less internal diameter than said lower ring toprovide a stop shoulder to abut the bight of the cup seam and align thebottom seam of the cup with the lower ends of said sleeve.

5. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head having a lower end wallformed with a central circular opening to receive the bottom-carryingend of an inverted cup, means removably securing said lower end wall tosaid head and permitting downward removal of said end wall, said headhaving a downwardly facing internal shoulder spaced above said lower endwall, cir cular plunger-guiding means within said head and including aring under and abutting said shoulder, an expansibe sleeve disposedconcentrically within said head and having a continuous lateral mountingflange at its upper end, said mounting flange extending to the side wallof said head and abutting the lower side of said ring, the lower end ofsaid sleeve extending into said opening in spaced relation with the Wallof the latter, a flange-clamping sleeve extending from said removableend wall to the lower side of said mounting flange and clamping thelatter against said ring, a restraining ring embracing said expansiblesleeve between the ends of the latter, the peripheral edge of saidrestraining ring being in contact with the inner side of saidflange-clamping sleeve, a third sleeve contacting with the inner side ofsaid flange-clamping sleeve and extending from said lower end wall tothe lower side of said restraining ring to support the latter, and aplunger slidable in the aforesaid plunger guiding means, said plungerand the lower end of said expansible sleeve having coacting surfaces forexpanding the lower end of said sleeve when said plunger is forceddownwardly.

6. A structure as specified in claim said lower end wall being composedof an upper and a lower ring contacting with each other, said upper ringbeing of less internal diameter than said lower ring to provide a stopshoulder to abut the bight of the cup seam.

7. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head, said head having a lowerend wall formed with a central circular opening to receive thebottomcarrying end of an inverted cup, a spring metal sleeve disposedconcentrically within said head and having a continuous lateral mountingflange at its upper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange insaid head and so positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends intosaid opening in spaced relation with the wall of this opening, saidsleeve being longitudinally divided from the region of said mountingflange to the lower extremity of said sleeve into a multiplicity ofspring fingers, a sleeve expander within the lower end of said sleeve,said expander and the lower end of said sleeve having coacting surfacesfor expanding said spring fingers when the sleeve expander is forceddownwardly, and an operating member extending downwardly within saidsleeve and connected to said sleeve expander, said lower end wall beingremovably secured to said head: said securing means for said mountingflange comprising (1) said removably secured end wall, (2) aflange-clamping sleeve in said head and extending from said end wall tosaid mounting flange, and (3) abutment means in said head and holdingsaid mounting flange against upward movement in said head, said mountingflange being tightly clamped between said abutment means and the upperend of said flange clamping sleeve.

8. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head, said head having a lowerend wall formed with a central circular opening to receive thebottomcarrying end of an inverted cup, a spring metal sleeve disposedconcentrically within said head and having a continuous lateral mountingflange at its upper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange insaid head and so positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends intosaid opening in spaced relation with the wall of this opening, saidsleeve being longitudinally divided from the region of said mountingflange to the lower extremity of said sleeve into a multiplicity ofspring fingers, a sleeve expander within the lower end of said sleeve,said expander and the lower end of said sleeve having coacting surfacesfor expanding said spring fingers when the sleeve expander is forceddownwardly, and an operating member extending downwardly within saidsleeve and connected to said sleeve expander, said lower end wall beingremovably secured to said head, said head having a downwardly facinginternal shoulder over said mounting flange, guiding means for saidoperating member including a ring snugly interposed between saidshoulder and said mounting flange, and a flange-clamping sleeveextending from said mounting flange to said removably secured lower endwall; said shoulder, ring, flange-clamping sleeve and removably securedlower end wall constituting said securing means for said mountingflange.

9. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of paper cups,a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head, said head having a lowerend wall formed with a central circular opening to receive thebottomcarrying end of an inverted cup, a spring metal sleeve disposedconcentrically within said head and having a continuous lateral mountingflange at its upper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange insaid head and so positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends intosaid opening in spaced relation with the Wall of this opening, saidsleeve being longitudinally divided from the region of said mountingflange to the lower extremity of said sleeve into a multiplicity ofspring fingers, a sleeve expander within the lower end of said sleeve,said expander and the lower end of said sleeve having coacting surfacesfor expanding said spring fingers when the sleeve expander is forceddownwardly, and an operating member extending downwardly within saidsleeve and connected to said sleeve expander, together with a rigidnonyielding restraining ring mounted in said head in fixed concentricrelation with the wall of said opening and embracing and contacting saidsleeve between the ends of the latter to aid in maintaining the lowerend of said sleeve in concentric relation with the wall of said opening.

10. In a mechanism for radially squeezing the bottom seams of papercups, a vertically disposed hollow cylindrical head, said head having alower end wall formed with a central circular opening to receive thebottomcarrying end of an inverted cup, a spring metal sleeve disposedconcentrically within said head and having a continuous lateral mountingflange at its upper end, means fixedly securing said mounting flange insaid head and so positioning said sleeve that its lower end extends intosaid opening in spaced relation with the wall of this opening, saidsleeve being longitudinally divided from the region of said mountingflange to the lower extremity of said sleeve into a multiplicity ofspring fingers, a sleeve expander within the lower end of said sleeve,said expander and the lower end of said sleeve having coacting surfacesfor expanding said spring fingers when the sleeve expander is forceddownwardly, and an operating member extending downwardly within saidsleeve and connected to said sleeve expander, said lower end wallcomprising an upper ring and a lower ring, said upper ring being of lessinternal diameter than said lower ring to provide a stop shoulder toabut the bight of the cup seam and assuring alignment of the cup bottomseam with said spring fingers.

11. In a device for radially compressing the bottom seams of paper cups,a one-piece spring metal sleeve having an integral continuous lateralmounting flange at its upper end, the lower end of said sleeve beingsized for engagement with the inner peripheral side of a cup seam, saidsleeve having a multiplicity of very narrow longitudinal slits extendingfrom the region of said mounting flange to the lower extremity of saidsleeve, said slits being equally spaced circumferentially of the sleeve,the metal between said slits constituting a multiplicity of springfingers extending from the region of said mounting flange to the lowerextremity of the sleeve, said spring fingers having rigid radiallywidened lower terminal portions, the outer peripheral surfaces of saidrigid terminal portions being disposed on a circle concentric with thesleeve to abut the inner peripheral side of the cup seam when the sleeveis expanded, said rigid terminal portions having inclined innerperipheral surfaces for coaction with a sleeve expander, said sleevebeing downwardly tapered, said spring fingers being gradually decreasedin radial thickness from their upper ends to said radially thickenedterminal portions, said outer peripheral surfaces of said terminalportions being disposed in downwardly flared relation with each other,said inner peripheral surfaces of said terminal portions being disposedin upwardly flared relation with each other.

References Cited ,in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,608,617 Reifsnyder Nov. 30, 1926 2,049,419 Barbieri Aug. 4, 1936FOREIGN PATENTS 648,563 Germany Aug. 6, 1937

